According to Kaz Yamauchi’s Twitter feed there will be two hard drive install options. The first is a basic 256MB install required to be able to play the game. The second is a 10GB install which Yamauchi describes as required for a “smooth play experience.”

While he didn’t go into more detail about what that means, we can speculate that such a large install will cut down on load times, but also make transitions for changing car color, model, tracks etc. much smoother.

Although optional, I think the 10GB install is something players will want to do to get the best out of the game.